Tell Me A Story?
by LoveLoveLovix
Summary: Homura only remembers life before the new world, and the life she supposedly had here seems so different than anything she knows. Luckily, Mami and Kyouko are more than willing to tell Homura about her life through a series of bedtime stories.


**Tell Me A Story?  
**A World Reset Tale

Homura wasn't sure who she was anymore. She wasn't sure how she existed anymore. There was this hardness in her heart that wasn't native to the old, innocent girl she used to be. Yet she wasn't as cold. She had warmth, an almost tangible fire in her heart unlike anything she had felt before the world reset.

She could fight through the miasma, slaying anything that got in her way. Then she could come home to the apartment that she shared with Mami and Kyouko- how that happened, how they cohabited, she didn't yet know- and let Mami run steady fingers through her hair. It was reassuring and soft and not at all something that belonged in the world before.

Mami and Kyouko had figured out something was different. They thought that maybe Homura hit her head in battle- maybe she would come around. So they took care of her more than was necessary, and Mami would let Homura's head rest on her chest as she told Homura the stories of how it all happened. How Homura slayed her first demon. How she lost so many ribbons in her first battles, as they would fall off and blow away, disappearing into the night jus when the demon was vanquished. Even some from before Homura's contract, like how she met Mami and Kyuubey.

It was a wonderful ritual. Something comforting like nothing before. And it gave her a chance to learn about the new Mitakihara. Patrol, cake, and Mami's soft voice and swift hands. The older sister she never had to replace the best friend who never really knew her.

"Tell me the story of my wish," Homura said one night.

Kyouko groaned. She usually sat in even though the stories were stupid and dull and she knew them all already. "Homu, you've heard that one a million times, dummy. Pick a new one. Have her tell you about your first fight, now that was a good one."

Homura's curiosity was sparked. But she still wanted to hear about her wish again. "Please? I keep... I keep forgetting my wish."

Mami took Homura's ribbons off as she spoke. "Well, it was about a week after we met. Kyouko was here, at the apartment, and you thought about wishing for a place to go. You had been staying in the hospital, but that couldn't last much longer, and you still needed an apartment... of course, I told you to save your wish. You could live with me. I always wanted the company anyway."

"Man, was I pissed," Kyouko interjected, laughing. "Wasn't I company enough? 'Sides, it's always the small ones who eat up all your food."

Homura wasn't small, that hadn't changed in the reset. But Kyouko was taller, and she liked to rub that in. She couldn't do it to Mami, who was easily tallest, so she picked on Homura a lot now.

"I felt a demon. And I told you that if you really wanted to be a magical girl, you should think hard about it now. If I defeated the demon and you still had no clue, you'd wish for cake, and we'd eat and celebrate."

"I remember that. A little. Kind of." What she didn't want to say was that she remembered it in at least twelve different ways, and the last one was an echo from a distant part of a witch's barrier, when Mami was addressing Madoka.

"You thought of a wish, of course." Homura could hear Mami's smile. "You wished to be happy."

"It was lame. Shoulda wished for a billion bucks. Then you'd be happy and you'd be rich."

"Oh, Kyouko," Mami laughed. Then she looked down at Homura. "I think it was a wonderful wish."

"I wished for happiness. That's nice."

"As you know, every wish comes with power, with a soul gem, with a contract to fight witches until you can't spread any more hope. When you are reduced to spreading despair, you will disappear. That is the fate of all magical girls." For the moment, the apartment was solemn.

Then, Mami continued. "We don't want to think of that right now. Anyway, we decided to see what powers you had the next day. You held out your soul gem as if you had been a magical girl all your life and transformed. Your ribbon blew as you did, whipping around your head. You seemed so graceful, like a goddess."

_Like Madoka..._

"You held a beautiful, willowy bow in your hands. It was strong and lovely. And when you stretched your limbs, trying to look at your uniform, you accidentally unfurled your wings. You looked like an angel."

"And then...?"

"Then we fought demons together. And you tripped and fell, and your wings caught in a door, and Sayaka laughed so hard that she nearly died. Kyouko had to hit her in the head to knock some sense back into her, but she was giggling too..."

"Was not! I take battles very seriously, I didn't have time to laugh at her. She nearly got us all killed!"

Mami shook her head. "You got better, though. Much better. And learned to pull your wings in. That was a big part of it. And you stopped losing your hair ribbons. For the new year, Sayaka got you a big pack of bobby pins, so even if the bow came loose, you wouldn't have to keep buying new ribbons. I think the man at the store down the street started charging Sayaka extra after that, she made him lose the most loyal customer he'd ever had."

Homura sat up and took a piece of cake off the little table. "Sayaka and I... were we good friends?"

Mami frowned. "That's right. You started forgetting during the same battle Sayaka disappeared. You two were like two little sisters, always bickering and fighting. But she took care of you. With the bobby pins, of course, but she also seemed to have your back more than she had anyone else's. Sayaka was a protector of the weak, truly."

"She coddled you," Kyouko translated bluntly. "Never let you fight for yourself. That idiot. I thought you'd die next battle after she disappeared, especially with the memory thing."

"And there was no one else? Just us four?" Homura asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Just us four. Three here, and Sayaka with her mother a few blocks away."

Homura took a bite of the cake, chewed, and swallowed. "Do you think I got my wish? Was I happy?"

There was silence. Mami furrowed her brow. Kyouko took a bite of Pocky. Finally, the redheaded magical girl pushed back a loose strand of hair. "What's it matter? Can't remember it anyway. Are you happy now?"

Homura thought for a moment.

"Yes."


End file.
